President macron has pay tribute describing him as a national treasure. The taliban says its seized panjshir province this was the last part of afghanistan that it didn t control. The panjshir valley has long been a bastion of taliban resistance. And this is significant for a number of reasons. Over the years fighters have successfully resisted the soviets in the 80s and the taliban in the 90s. Here s what we think is confirmation that that resistance is over. This was posted online by the taliban and appears to show the taliban flag raised outside the building of panjshir s regional governor. And this is a taliban spokesperson. Translation: we have captured panjshir with the will of god. The local elders and religious leaders have been coordinating with us and our operations went ahead with their help. Some of those who are still wanting to fight are missing at the moment. We are trying to tell them that if they want to join a normal life they are welcome to. Afghanistan is their ho
festival early on friday. north korea has accused president biden of pursuing a hostile policy towards it, and has warned that the united states will get hurt if it provokes pyongyang. the crowds are coming back. 5,000 people will gather at a music festival in liverpool today to see headline act the blossoms as studies continue into the spread of coronavirus. surgery in the womb: a pioneering procedure to repair a baby s spine while still in its mother s womb continues despite pandemic pressures. and the american actress and oscar winner 0lympia dukakis who found worldwide fame in moonstruck and steel magnolias has died, aged 89 hello and welcome to bbc news. if you ve just joined if you vejustjoined us. india has reported the highest number of deaths with covid i9 over a 2k hour period. the health ministry says almost 3,700 people died. on saturday, there was a global record number of infections for a single day. the prime minister, narendra modi, is meeting senior
eileen had never met. hello, eileen. diane was her telephone friend throughout the pandemic and today they were able to meet face to face at last. i think it makes a big difference that somebody cares. how much difference having someone you could talk to? terrific. we ve had a good laugh, haven t we? we just realised that we at the same sense of humour i think and i would tell her tales and it would make her laugh, so i would tell her some more and i would stop you. just worked out really well. eileen has been on her own since losing her husband but there s many like her and age uk has lottery funding to maintain the telephone service. we found we had a lot of people volunteer to wanted to do it you have been furloughed and a lot of customers wanting to come on board who needed some extra support, so that is how the project snowballed. and those like diane who volunteered with the telephone service found the rewards flowed both ways. it must have been important to you as well
despite pandemic pressures. scheduled for 11.57 pacific time. nasa s first night time splashdown since apollo eight. four astronauts have returned to earth from the international space station. and in half an hour looking back at the past seven days at westminster, alicia mccarthy will be here with the week in parliament. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the rules that require people to self isolate if they come into contact with someone who s tested positive for covid, could be relaxed. in a trial starting next week, up to 40,000 people contacted by nhs test and trace will be asked to take a lateral flow test every morning for a week instead of starting ten days of quarantine. 0ur health correspondent, anna collinson, reports. test, test, test. it s a key part of society reopening. currently, if you come into close contact with someone who s tested positive, you may receive this a message from test and trace saying you must self isolate for ten days. but this co